Paul and Blackburn Among GOP Senators Opposing Extension of School Meal Program
A House-approved bill to continue funding a free school lunch program for low-income families hit a roadblock Thursday after at least two Senate Republicans moved to thwart the measure.
In an overwhelmingly bipartisan 376-42 vote, House lawmakers approved the Keep Kids Fed Act, a bill to extend the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) child nutrition waiver authority—which was set to expire June 30—and authorize $3 billion in funding for communities to provide healthy meals for children and support to schools and daycares amid supply chain challenges and soaring food costs.
“No child in the richest country in the world should go hungry,” Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said in a statement after the House passed the bill.
“The USDA waivers provided essential flexibility for families to get food,” she continued, “and to ensure schools can keep providing nutritious meals for children across the country—as many as 10 million children received free breakfast and lunch each day under this program.”
“The impact of this program has been unequivocal,” Jayapal asserted, noting that “95% of school nutrition staff reported the waivers helped reduce child hunger, 89% said they eased the burden on parents and guardians, and 82% said they support academic achievement.”
House Democrats urged the Senate to swiftly approve the measure. However, according to NPR‘s Ximena Bustillo, Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) have put holds on the proposed legislation.
The Republican lawmakers’ obstruction won’t stop the bill from passing, but it will delay approval.
“The biggest omission,” writes Bustillo, “is the exclusion of flexibilities that suspended eligibility requirements for free and reduced-price meal applications, giving every student free meals. Though the bill provides free meals to more students, families will need to resume filling out applications to qualify.”
Jillien Meier, director of partnerships and campaign strategies at No Kid Hungry, told NPR that the waivers “really provided a lifeline, because in a lot of rural and suburban communities, poverty is so widely dispersed over large geographies.”
Originally published at Commondreams.org, written by Brett Wilkins.
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